Potatoes in a Bathtub.

Now I am not a great lover of potatoes but really think they are a quick meal filler that if I serve them it's usually covered in chillies or drowned in curry.  So it's a bit of a step for me to grow my own. Wanda on the other hand loves potatoes and I think I've created a bit of jealousy not only in the bathtub but the potatoes themselves.  they are pretty much taking care of themselves this time and going wild. I only splash water on them and let them do their thing. When I start harvesting them I'm already thinking of hot chilli to make to complement.

Additionally I'm filling the cupboards at the moment experimenting with all sorts of traditional recipes for food storage and continuation. So included is a photo of my first sourdough sponge as it ferments to make a loaf tomorrow and of my pickled onions mushrooms and chillies. I have had success with chillies previously and the onions were a natural progression. The mushrooms were purely a hack as I had a bit of spare pickling liquid and a couple of spare jars, the mushrooms had been in my fridge a week and rather than let them go to waste it was a 2 min job to prep them for a jar. Now it's a waiting game!

Tanya

xmas has come and go and this year for my birthday i got bee hives in the yard, one more step towards the goal. 

The first day they were here they went a little crazy and were flying around the house and buzzing everybody nobody got stung so that was good, the  next day never saw one around the house.

we have a large population of wild bees around here too, they seem to be getting on no major problems yet.

This year(2013) we ended up with 16 chickens 5 duckling and 11 baby geese a good haul i thought, we the rain all through the summer so far the grass has managed to stay green for them so there is plenty to forage in.,

the six hives

New Aquaponics

In the last few weekends I have set up my own Aquaponics setup which was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Using scavenged parts, a couple of Toys R Us kiddie pools, and Bunnings pipes. I copied the Tank layout at Wanda's place. It was worth the effort and I've thrown yabbies in one tank and feeder fish in the other. I'll be excited when I can get some eating fish in it.

The plants are standard for me. Chilies,  Capsicum,  coriander,  eggplant and Tomatoes.

A good year in the garden

The last couple of years has been a bit of a struggle, but finally most things have adjusted to the clay. With alot of mulching the geese and chooks and ducks roaming over the garden it has helped,
This year I have finally got mangoes, 5 are left and they look like they might do something, there are apples on the trees, grapes on the vines, and the pumpkins look great.

I have put in raspberries and boysenberry and asparagus in this year, hopefully I finally found spot where they will grow well.

The frangipanies  have flowers and my water lotus has a flower. Three flowers on the magnolia.
My weeping mulberry fall over in the storm the other day I have transplanted it, at the wrong time I know, all the leaves have fallen off, with all this rain I'm hoping it will survive.

I have planted more cape lilacs along the fence line for the white tail cockatoos they love them', I had 4 and now 7 I have also planted hibiscus in between them.  There are so many different types of birds now its amazing, now the trick will be to get native animals in the garden. I did read up on making a bat box, that will be next up the back,

There animals haven't been so lucky, the geese had eleven babies that was good and 5 duckling, between the dogs and crows no chickens yet, had two tries and all the eggs disappeared, hopefully the one sitting now due next Friday will get hers out, there are 11 eggs under her.

This year I have gone mad on water plants in container I have quite a few different ones now,(just in containers I have found around the place), I have so many frogs now and they are so noisy all the time, I have learnt to live with it.

All in all it has been a rewarding year and I just love walking around in the garden, even though I still have portably fencing and tin up around the wire fencing to keep dogs and foxes out, some places are still a bit rough around the edges, but I love it anyway.

the purple water iris didnt last long but it did look glorious

Back in the Garden

We're back and in the Garden. I'm now living on an Acre across the road from Wanda. A nice large block with a lot of scope. The prominent things folks will see are my 3 big rose bushes in the front yard. Roses mean Harmony and peace. So having them out there adds a little balance to my hectic schedule.

My new house is old and rickety but nice and the backyard is a nice spot for the dogs to run around.

I am working on a new (this time home made) Aquaponics tank which I'll post up soon

no mangoes left

The rain last week washed all the mangoes flowers of, so no mangoes again this year, so burning under the tree didnt work. Maybe by next year i will find a solution to my mangoe fruit problem.

I have one chook and 4 ducks setting at the moment there should be babies everywhere, the crows are starting to hang around it like they know

weekend of mowing

Had a good weekend in the garden, did alot of mowing. Tidy some garden beds, and put some straw down in beds. Picked the first lot of tomatoes of the aquaponics bed, the mini cauliflowers are starting to head and so are the red cabbages, the bed is starting come into it own, in two weeks we will start eating the first trout from this batch.

The chook is sitting on eggs at last, so there will be some new chickens this year, one to the ducks is starting a nest too, the crows are stealing the eggs now so will have to cover the yard.